Who Knew?
by fires-of-ember
Summary: Lily despises James' lopsided grin. James insists that he doesnt have feelings for her. Sirius finds himself stuck w/ a loudmouth tomboy MUGGLE roomate. Remus loses his longtime girlfriend. And Peter is as stupid as ever. Who knew what 7th yr could bring?
1. Invitations

Who Knew?

Summary: Who knew what would happen in their seventh year? J/L SB/OC RL/OC PP/OC

A/N: So I thank you all for checking out the story! Please enjoy!

* * *

Invitations

Lily Evans strolled among the streets of Diagon Alley lost in thought. She'd never thought that she would be Maid of Honor at his sister's wedding or anything, but a bloody invitation would have certainly been nice. And to think that their parents had abided by Petunia's wishes and thrown Lily out of the house for the next two weeks. Okay, so maybe they hadn't just _thrown_ her out. It was something more like 'here's some money, go stay with a friend or relative for awhile.' The problem with this plan was that aside from the fact the event of the century (Petunia's wedding….please note the sarcasm) was in two weeks, today was also the official start of summer break. Therefore, any and all of Lily's relatives would be helping with and attending the wedding; leaving no time to babysit the seventeen year old witch (why this thought had not occurred to Lily's parents before dropping her off in Diagon Alley was quite a mystery to her, but then again weddings and Petunia can both be rather flustering she supposed). In a more upsetting addition, all of Lily's closest friends were leaving with their own families on vacations. Being the ever so caring and kind witch she was, Lily couldn't possibly barge into their vacations or upon a friend with whom she would normally associate upon acquaintance basis rather than closeness. And so it was that Lily Evans decided to spend her two weeks alone and renting a room in the Leaky Cauldron.

Checking her watch, Lily realized that it had only been three hours since her parents had dropped her off. She decided very quickly that it was going to be an awfully long two weeks. Perhaps if Lily had not turned Petunia's hair green at her school's graduation (although she had changed it back before the actual ceremony), she might have been granted an invitation to the wedding. But Lily found that the shock and outraged look on Petunia's face had been rather worth missing the wedding. After all, Vernon Dursely was perhaps the most boring and ugly man that Lily had ever met. It was quite a shame that Petunia was marrying the prat in the first place.

Lily's thoughts were interrupted by a loud smack as something, or rather, someone fell into a huge muddy puddle not ten feet away from her. Blinking confusedly, a fairly odd sight met her eyes. A large group of uncontrollable children seemed to be jumping upon the tall figure sprawled in the mud puddle while screaming "ICE CREAM!!" Lily remotely wondered if the figure on the ground would look like a mud-monster when it finally managed to stand up. To her great delight, he DID look slightly like a mud-monster. To her great displeasure, however, the man was none other than James Potter. She couldn't help but laugh at his current state.

"Oh, 'ello there Evans," James said shaking the mud from his hair.

Lily looked at the situation around her. James Potter was a mud-monster. He was surrounded by five children. His hair was splattering mud onto her shirt. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" She asked him.

A young girl gasped very dramatically and covered her ears, "BAD WORD!" She screamed.

"Watch it Evans, the children do not need to be influenced by your foul mouth," James told her, unable to suppress a wide grin. Lily gave him a look that clearly said, 'as if you have NEVER cursed, you arrogant prat of all sorts.' James only stuck his tongue out in reply before turning to the kids, "It's alright guys, Evans here didn't mean to say a bad word. You see, where she comes from there are NO bad words!" He said this last part as if he were revealing some huge secret. Lily snorted and rolled her eyes.

"No bad words?!" The girl from earlier exclaimed.

Another boy looked up to James with a devilish grin, "Wicked!" James ruffled his hair and laughed.

"Does that mean that Sirius and her come from the same place?" A girl Lily though was quite cute asked James.

"Yep," James replied happily, "They are practically cousins in their own little world of no bad words! Now," He leaned in close to them, "Why don't you all ran and tell Florence what sort of ice cream you want!" The kids screamed excitedly and ran for the nearby shop.

"Er—" Lily began.

"Sorry about that," James said with an apologetic grin.

"Um—" Lily wasn't quite sure what exactly he was apologizing for. Shouldn't she be the one to apologize? Oh forget it, he is a git anyway. "You are covered in mud." She told him.

James raised his eyebrows, "Yes, I have noticed this fact, believe it or not." It was Lily's turn to raise her eyebrows at him. He tried to raise his even higher as if it were some sort of competition and ended up looking flat out ridiculous. She laughed.

"Anyway," He continued with a big sigh, "I was just wondering about something…"

"Yes?" Lily prompted when he didn't say anything more.

"Well," He grinned cheekily and winked, "Do you find me more dead sexy as a mud-monster or when I have just left the quidditch pitch?"

Lily grabbed a handful of mud and shoved it in his face.

"I'll take that as when I'm a mud-monster," James replied, mud oozing off his cheeks.

Again, Lily couldn't help but laugh, "You are such a prick sometimes Potter."

"Everyone has got to fit in somewhere," He argued with another grin, "If I'm going to be prick, then I better be a damn good one!"

"Oh Merlin," Lily rolled her eyes playfully. James was a prick, no doubt. He was arrogant, conceited, egotistical… Lily stopped suddenly realizing that all of her words to describe James Potter meant the exact same thing. Well anyway, the point was that James was a git and an obnoxious one at that. But what had to be understood about James was that he was ALWAYS joking…about everything. It took Lily quite awhile to figure this part out, but finally, as they had both grown up a little more she finally understood. James was bloody brilliant when it came to books smarts, wits, and quidditch. What he completely lacked, Lily had discovered, was confidence. Therefore, he hid his lack of confidence behind joke after joke about his good looks or amazing talent. It was quite an odd way to go about things, and in Lily's opinion, made him even more of a git.

"Come on, James, get some ice cream!" The girl with dark red hair yelled from the balcony of Florence's shop.

"I'll be right there Rosie!" He called back to her, "Fancy getting some ice cream Evans?"

"Um—"

"I mean—I wasn't, you know," James blushed a bright red color as the words seemed to spill from his faster and faster, "I wasn't asking you out or anything. Because we are completely past that—That whole thing in fifth year, I explained, was a joke you know? The constant asking you out? It's not like—I mean I don't have those feelings for you or anything… No offense, though, you are quite lovely. Very smart, talented, beautiful," He blushed an even deeper red, "Um…right well anyway, we both know that it was just the thrill of the chase and something I lost quite a few bets over I'll have you know—"

"Are you done yet?" Lily asked him amusedly.

"Er—yeah," James ruffled his hair nervously.

Lily laughed, "Then let's get some ice cream."

* * *

"You are so…muggle-ish," Lily told James as they enjoyed ice cream with the kids.

James tilted his head, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, we go to an magical ice cream shop where one could get practically any flavor in the world, and you get a hot fudge sundae," She said as if it were the most confusing thing in the world.

"With cookie dough chunks on top," James reminded her happily.

Lily thought he might have missed her point entirely. Florence was famous for his amazing magical concoctions of ice cream and here was James Potter defying him with his hot fudge sundae. With cookie dough chucks on top, she reminded herself quickly. It was so bloody…simple. Another thing to add to James Potter's git list, she decided. He can't even choose an interesting flavor of ice cream.

"So," James asked, "What are you doing here all alone?"

Lily was caught off guard by the sudden question, "Um… Just, you know, roaming…"

"Sounds a bit lame to me," James said annoyingly although Lily had to agree that roaming in Diagon Alley sounded extremely lame.

"What are YOU doing," She asked accursedly, "Dragging around a bunch of kids?"

James grinned again, "Babysitting."

"And their parents actually trust you or…?"

"It might surprise you Miss Evans, but some people seem to think that I can be very mature and responsible."

Lily sniggered, "These people wouldn't happen to be you and your ego, would it?" James stuck his tongue out at her again. She smirked, "Very mature Potter."

The girl James had called Rosie earlier climbed up into his lap, "Is the princess going to spend the whole day with us?" She asked.

"Er—I hope not," James said with a quick glance at Lily.

"No," Lily said a bit more forcefully than she meant. Blushing she tried again, "No, I'm not. I have some other things to do while I'm in town."

"Oh," Rosie said rather sadly. James absentmindedly fed her some of his ice cream while giving Lily a funny stare. Lily, put off by the look, crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him. A few of the kids who had been watching her laughed.

"Who wants to go to the park?" James asked and they all screamed again. He threw one of the littler girls on top of his shoulders and scooped up what looked to be her twin brother in his arms. He offered his free hand to the boy who seemed to be quite mischievous and set off towards the park.

"Come on princess!" Rosie said quickly grabbing Lily's hand. Lily was very unsure what to do. She didn't have any experience with kids. And she had decided long ago that she despised them. But Potter, curse him, already had a head start and Lily simply couldn't leave the two little girls behind. With a sigh, she grabbed the hand of a girl who looked like she was around seven or eight.

"I'm Sam!"

"I'm Lily."

"You're Princess Lily!" Rosie squealed with delight.

James Potter looked back towards Lily and gave her a lopsided grin. She almost found herself smiling back.

* * *

Lily discovered Potter's antics for heading to the rather dismal park in Diagon Alley fairly quickly. The kids, it seemed, were happy to entertain themselves. This left James and Lily alone to talk. Or rather, James pile a million different questions on Lily.

"So…Why are you here again?"

Lily sighed, "Just to get some stuff before break and all."

"How long are you here for?"

"Just today," Lily lied.

"So when I come tomorrow Princess Evans will be gone?"

"You're coming tomorrow?" Lily asked too quickly.

James grinned triumphantly, "What's it matter to you if you aren't going to be here, Evans?"

Damn, he's a bit more clever than he lets onto.

"Erm—Just surprised?" Lily lied again. She was really a terrible liar.

"Right…" James said slowly, "How about we try these questions again and this time you tell me the truth?"

"Bug off Potter," Lily snapped. This was where the boy got annoying. When he had to know absolutely EVERYTHING. And he had a knack for figuring out those things people refused to tell him. But there would be hell to pay if he knew the truth about why she was in Diagon Alley. Not meriting an invitation to her sister's wedding! Her very own sister! Now that was something to be ashamed of.

"I'm only worried about you," He replied as if she should be so touched that he was actually stoop as low to worry about HER.

"Aren't you just so kind," Lily said sarcastically.

James shrugged, "Some people like to think so!" Now he was really starting to get on her nerves, he could see it in her eyes. "But," He continued in a softer tone, "If you are staying overnight here, just be careful ok? Make sure to be inside by dark…"

Something told Lily that although he was trying to act unconcerned, he truly was very concerned. Leave it to the git to be that confusing. "I can take care of myself you know," She told him.

"I know," James looked at her fiercely, "But… He's getting stronger Evans. Two people were killed just outside of Diagon Alley last week. The places that used to be safe are just as dangerous as everywhere else. We might row a bit—" Lily raised her eyebrows, "Alright—a LOT – when we are at school and all, but I do care about you Evans. I couldn't bear the thought of you being hurt or…or worse. I don't hate you despite what people say…"

Lily didn't really comprehend where exactly this touching speech was going. Sure, she knew that James didn't hate her and nor did she hate him as everyone claimed. They just fought…well, they fought all the time about absolutely everything. The last two years, though, had certainly been an improvement to say the least. Lily had begun to figure out James Potter piece by piece, and that had certainly helped stop most of their major, out of control rows. The problem was that they were rivals in almost everything they did; it caused a natural need to fight between them. Although, Lily admitted, James easily bested her in quidditch without a question.

"Erm—Evans?" James asked.

Lily blushed; her thoughts were getting carried away, "Sorry, bit distracted, what was that?"

"I was just saying, that maybe you could answer my questions now?"

Lily sighed, he never gave up on anything, "Alright Potter… So let's say that hypothetically speaking, I was staying in Diagon Alley overnight. Over several nights actually. What's would happen then?"

"Hypothetically speaking?" He asked and Lily nodded, "Well, I suppose that hypothetically I'd ask if you'd like to stay at my house."

"WHAT?!" Lily's eyes bulged, "St-stay….at your house?"

"Hypothetically speaking," James added with a grin, "Why not? Sirius, Remus, and Peter will all be there and mum loves company. Plus you'll be safe from everything with me."

"You honestly think I'd be safer with you?" Lily asked, irritated by his nerve.

"Well yes," James nodded, "And Sirius and Remus are there too. Of course, Pete won't really be much help but I suppose—" Lily was walking away. "Hey, where you going?" James asked.

She turned and smiled, "Oh, I'm just going to hand myself in to you-know-who now." James looked at her confusedly as she smiled even broader, "I'd rather just die now than go through the torture of living with four prats only to die later."

James made a choking motion towards Lily's turned back, "I'm only trying to help you know! My offer still stands…. Hypothetically speaking, of course!"

Lily didn't bother turning around, "That doesn't even make sense!" She yelled over her shoulder. She could picture James sticking his tongue out at her, which ironically, was exactly was he was doing.

* * *

Lily Evans sat alone on her bed in the Leaky Cauldron later that night. She was taking back her thoughts from earlier that day; she most definitely DID hate James Potter. He had her scared out of his wits and jumping at every creak of the floor. Why on earth did he have to go telling her about how bad things were; didn't he assume she could read the papers? Her owl, Emerald, hooted softly.

"I'm scared too," Lily agreed. Below her were several loud crashes. "Probably just some drunken fool," Lily said aloud. Her words were not comforting. The Prophet lay open on her bed. Every headline either concerning death or how to protect yourself from it. Even the crossword spelled out ways to identify dark magic objects. It was pitiful really. The ministry couldn't stop him; they couldn't do a single thing about it. The paper was reporting rubbish given to it by the ministry to make it look as though things were getting under control. All in all, Lily seemed to think that she was on the losing side.

"We are all going to die," Lily announced to Emerald morbidly. "I have a choice to make… Option A) Die alone or… Option B) Die with Potter." The owl hooted softly, "Alright, alright already," Lily exclaimed, "I suppose dying with Potter is better than doing it alone. But if he asks or has that stupid smirk on his face when we show up," She glared at Emerald, "I'm telling him that it was all your idea."

* * *

James finished saying goodbye to the final child to leave. As he closed the door, he yawned and was amazed to see that it was already eleven o'clock. Suppose it was about time to find Sirius and head up to bed. As he looked quietly from room to room for his best mate, James heard a loud noise coming from one of their three family rooms. Pulling out his wand and sneaking into the room, he was terrified to see a disheveled figure rolling out of the fireplace.

"Petrificus Totalus!" He yelled and the figure fell to the floor, stiff as a board.

Using his wand for light, James hurried over to the figure and was rather bewildered by what he saw. "Evans?" He asked curiously, "What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Are you ok?" James remembered she couldn't move thanks to his jinx. He grinned lopsidedly at her, "I wish I had a camera right about now." If it was possible for unmoving eyes to glare daggers, Lily's most certainly were. With a very obvious regretful sigh, he preformed the countercurse.

"Do you always attack people like this or am I a special case?" Lily asked as he helped her to her feet.

He raised his eyebrows, "Do you always break into houses?"

Lily sighed and pouted, "Fair enough."

"Would you like to explain as to why you flooed into my family room when its eleven thirty at night?" James asked kindly; genuinely wondering if something was wrong.

"I—Um—I" Lily blushed and fumed at herself inwardly. She could have at least come up with a good story before she just came barging into his house; scared like a three year old. Knowing her less than perfect lying skills, Lily decided to tell the truth. "I got scared."

"Okay," Was all James said.

Lily was confused. No jokes? No teasing? "Erm—so…"

"So you want to stay here instead of the Leaky Cauldron?" James asked kindly.

Damn him, he could really put on some fake niceness charm! Lily considered for a moment that maybe he was really just being nice, but as said before, it was only a moment.

She grinned, "Is that a hypothetical question?"

James shrugged and grinned back, "Well seeing as how you're are already in my family room, I'm going to save you from answering. Now then, you can stay as long as you like on one condition…" Lily cringed outwardly, fearing the worst. "Tell me what is really going on over a cup of tea," He said. She agreed.

* * *

"So you see, there was really no one to stay with," She told him to end the whole story.

James had been quiet and actually a very good listener. He grinned from the corner of his mouth, "So let me get this straight… You didn't get invited to your own sister's wedding?"

"Oh Merlin!" Lily cried, "She's a—a—well, her fiancée is a right prat. Who'd want to go to a wedding like that?"

James didn't press the issue, knowing it had probably hurt Lily's feelings very much in the first place. "Well," He announced as he washed their cups, "You are more than welcome to stay for the entire two weeks if you don't get too sick of me."

"You mum won't mind, will she? I'm sure I can find somewhere else to stay soon, but I really hate to barge in—"

"Oh Lily come off it," James laughed heartily, "My mum will absolutely love you. It'll be good to have a girl around the house again too… She always says, 'the more the merrier!'"

Lily blushed, "Like I said I'll find somewhere else soon—"

James clapped a hand over her mouth, "Evans..." He said, standing quite close to her actually, "Shut up. You can stay as long as you need it." He removed his hand and stepped back to put the dishes up. "Besides," he said over his shoulder, "Now you are going to be indebted to me!"

* * *

"I'm just going to check and make sure Sirius is in bed," James whispered as the two were making their way to what was to be Lily's room. James went into a door on the right and motioned for Lily to follow. While James was busy turning off the lights in Sirius' room, Lily looked around, confusedly. There was a fish tank with three fish, several posters of muggle bands that she knew Sirius liked, a broom and a large assortment of clothes, schoolbooks, and pictures of the marauders scattered around the room.

"It looks like he lives here," Lily whispered to James as they left the room.

James tilted his head and gave her another one of his odd looks, "He does," James said simply and Lily knew the subject was closed for discussion. "Now then," He continued to the door after Sirius', "This will be your room, Princess Lily."

Lily rolled her eyes at the nickname, but gasped when she walked inside. It was a beautiful room; the bed completely with a canopy and all. Decorated in blue too; Lily's favorite color.

"I knew you liked blue," James said sheepishly.

"It's perfect James!" Lily gave him a hug without thinking. With a slight blush she pulled away, but was too preoccupied by the room to stay embarrassed about the hug. James Potter, on the other hand, was rather having difficultly thinking about anything else.

"Well, erm," James collected himself, "If you need anything, my room is just across the hall from Sirius' and your bathroom is just through the walk-in closet. Mind you," He continued lightly, "Just because you know where my room is doesn't mean its ok to spy on me while I'm dressing.

"Oh Potter!" Lily said exasperated, although she was too amazed at having her own bathroom to care.

James grinned cheekily, "I can read minds, Evans." She threw a pillow at him. He laughed and said, "Right, well we'd best be getting to bed."

"Right," Lily rummaged through her truck for her pajamas. James turned as he was leaving the door and opened his mouth as if to say something. Lily cut him off, "I know, Potter, I know…I owe you bigtime."

"Actually," James grinned, "I was just going to say goodnight."

"Oh," Lily blushed yet again, "Well goodnight then Potter."

"Goodnight Evans."

* * *

A/N: OK…so I know that was a long chapter, especially since it was just about one day! But…I needed to get everything set up for the rest of the story and establish Lily and James' relationship a little bit. Don't worry, Sirius, Remus, and Peter will all be in it for anyone who thought it was too much l/j action. AND… for anyone who thought their relationship was too friendly already: they won't be hooking up the next chapter or anything! I'm going to take time and make sure that the whole relationship develops before putting them together (since we all know it happens)! Please please PLEASE tell me if you like the beginning or not! REVIEW!! MUWAH!! Thanks for reading!!


	2. Kids!

Who Knew??

"Well I must admit, you were the last person I expected to see here," Remus Lupin said taking a seat next to Lily.

Lily jumped in surprise, "When did you arrive?"

"Just a few minutes ago," Remus explained, "James said you were out by the lake…I thought he was lying, so I came to check."

Lily sighed at looked over her shoulder at the giant house with the beautiful grounds and lake, "I didn't know he lived in a bloody mansion."

"Does it make a difference?"

"No," Lily argued, "I just thought he might have mentioned it at some point during the last six years. After all, he loves to show off about everything else."

Remus chuckled, "James really isn't that bad, Lily, you of all people should realize that. He likes to make people laugh; enjoy life a little."

Lily raised her eyebrows, "I have noticed that."

"He really is a nice guy," Remus said with a sigh. This conversation was going nowhere. Lily was too damn stubborn for her own good. And here he was getting in the middle of it.

"I know that he's a nice guy," Remus almost died of shock, "But," Lily continued, "I cannot understand why he refuses to act like one. By Merlin, after seeing this house, the boy has every right to act like an arrogant egotistical git. His family obviously has more money than anyone at Hogwarts! But," She was really getting worked up now, "Instead of being bigheaded and bragging over his money and book smarts; he insists upon being proud for all of his mischievous pranks, quidditch abilities, and completely, utterly, messy hair."

Remus was impressed by her observations on the habits of James Potter. Wonder if the girl thought about everyone like this? Nah, it would obviously occupy her entire life to sit around and figure out the principles of human nature. He concluded that she had evidently found James a special case and had taken to narrowing down all of his character flaws to a pinpoint.

"Er—perhaps he doesn't enjoy being rich or smart, so he therefore chooses to ignore those qualities?" Remus suggested warily.

"He doesn't enjoy it?!" Lily exclaimed, looking about at the overly beautiful mansion, "Oh that must be it. Let's just forget the fact that he lives in a bloody flipping mansion with its own bloody flipping lake."

Remus smiled at her kindly, "Well, just so you know the Potter's never exactly chose to live here. Their family has been a safehouse for our kind for several generations. You see, there isn't another wizarding family around for miles and miles. The area has been inhabited by muggles. The Potter's built the house a long time ago so that any witches or wizards who were traveling across county by broom or foot or anything would have a place to stay."

"Was it necessary to have a lake?!"

"The lake was already here, Lily," Remus shrugged, "The Potters are known for their extreme generosity. In fact, they are the most charitable wizard family in all of England. They don't flaunt around with their money and they live like normal people."

"Alright alright, enough with the lecture!" Lily exclaimed exasperatedly. Remus suspected that she had run out of arguments. "Let's find some lunch, I'm starving."

* * *

"So Jacobs afraid of water and Tom's allergic to bananas so don't let him eat them," James was explaining to Lily later that afternoon, "Most of the kids are fairly well behaved, but they aren't saints. Just keep an eye on them, and everything should go fine."

"You babysit these kids a lot?" Lily asked, her mind was in a whirlwind from all of the information.

James shrugged, "When their parents are out for work or something. I suppose I spend quite a bit of time with them. The redhead—Rosie—she's my favorite. I'm teaching her how to read."

"Funny," Lily said skeptically, "I thought you had to know how to read before you could teach."

James clasped his chest, "That one hurt deep, Evans. You should really try being a nice person once in awhile."

"You wouldn't know a nice person if they slapped you in the face," Lily argued.

"You're right," James agreed with a grin to Lily's surprise, "Nice people don't slap other people, therefore, it's impossible to be slapped by a nice person in the face."

Lily rolled her eyes, "You're impossible."

"Thanks! So you'll be alright with the children for a few minutes?" James asked her, "Sirius needs my help with a few things and I don't want to drag all of the kids out of the basement when they just got here."

"Oh yeah, if you can do it, I can do it," Lily tried to sound calm and controlled, but she truthfully had no idea when it came to kids. She quite hated kids if she remembered right. But she assumed that someone two feet tall and seven years old couldn't be too difficult to handle. How wrong she was.

Within a quick ten minutes, the entire basement was a disaster. The twin boy and girl she knew from yesterday were painting everything in sight, including Lily, with the finger-paint. The mischievous boy she knew and another she hadn't met yesterday were wrestling. Rosie and another girl had managed to rip a hole in one of the chairs and were now pulling the stuffing out of it. A girl who had fallen down and scratched her knee, was wailing that she was bleeding. And to Lily's greatest horror, she saw a boy and girl on top of the tall entertainment center; threatening to jump off.

"POTTER!" She screamed, quite frozen in place herself without the faintest idea of what to do.

James must have heard the concern in her voice because he, Sirius, and Remus had all apparated to the basement before Lily had a chance to blink. Peter, on the other hand, came huffing down the steps; having yet to pass his apparation test. Getting over the shock of what was going on in a quick second, they all sprang into action. Sirius easily caught the boy and girl who had just jumped off the entertainment center. Remus separated the boys who were wrestling. Peter stopped the two girls from continuing to pull stuffing from the ripped chair. And James, poor James, went after the twins with finger paint. Unfortunately, well only for him as the others thought it was quite hilarious, James tripped over the girl with a bleeding knee and went flying into the finger-painters. The twins, in turn, emptied their four cans of paint right on James' head. His face looked like some sort of color disaster with blue, red, yellow, and green streaming down his face.

"Good Merlin, what is going on down here?" An amused voice came from behind them. Lily turned to see a woman making her way down the steps. She wore a lopsided grin that was uncannily similar to James'. In fact, in Lily's opinion, she looked very much like James. This could only be his mother she concluded. She was very pretty, Lily observed, and looked to be around forty. Her frame was slight and petite; her hazel eyes dancing with fun and amusement. Her wavy raven black hair was cut just past her shoulders and had framed layers around her face.

"James, darling," She said in the same amused tone, "If you wanted to be chameleon for Halloween, I would have happily made you a costume," She chuckled at her own joke. Turning to Lily, she said, "Now you dear, I was never quite fond of the whole muggle tye-dye idea, but you are pretty enough to wear anything." Lily blushed and decided that she rather liked Mrs. Potter.

"Mum," it was very difficult not to laugh at James in his current state, "This is Lily Evans."

"Oh, I know darling," Mrs. Potter said, still grinning, "After all, you have been telling me about the prettiest girl at Hogwarts with the long red hair and beautiful green eyes for years."

If possible to do with a multicolored face, James blushed furiously. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sniggering uncontrollably. Lily, quite unsure if the woman was serious or not, raised her eyebrows at James. For once in his life, James was the one speechless and spluttering. James wasn't denying that he hadn't said it, Lily noticed quickly. But then, had he? Surely he had not said that she was the prettiest girl at Hogwarts…there were so many other girls!

"Why don't you boys clean this mess up while Miss Evans and I enjoy a cup of tea then hmm?" Mrs. Potter smiled at Lily, "Come along, dear, the boys will be done in a jiffy."

"Oh, why thank you, Mrs. Potter—"

James' mother laughed and clasped Lily's arm, "Call me Emily dear, I simply feel old with a name like Mrs. Potter! Now do you take your tea hot or cold?"

* * *

"Bloody annoying about Evans isn't is?" James asked his fellow friends.

Sirius sniggered, "Oh come off it, Prongs, we all know you are glad that lovely Lily is getting to know the future mother-in-law."

"I—I—What?!" James spluttered.

"Seriously mate, there really is no reason to keep pretending that you don't have feelings for the girl."

"Feelings?" James chuckled, "For Evans? That's a real riot, Padfoot, I tell you what. Me have feelings for Evans…" He continued to chuckle, "Are you listening to this Moony? Wormtail?"

"Um—" Peter looked around frantically, Sirius growled at him, "I think Padfoot is right."

James rolled his eyes, "Wormtail, honestly, just because Sirius growls at you doesn't mean that you have to agree with him. Anyway, what about you Moony?"

"Well," Remus seemed to choose his words carefully, "I think there is a very good possibility that you do have feelings for her, but you refuse to admit it."

"You're nutcases, all of you," James muttered as he attempted to magic the paint off his face.

"So remind me again why you asked the girl out constantly?" Sirius retaliated.

James accidently poked himself in the face with his wand, "Ouch—and that was years ago!"

"Last year," Sirius corrected.

James ignored this, "I was just simply —at the time-- attracted to her…her…her"

"Unwillingness to date you?" Peter supplied James.

"I wouldn't have dated myself either," James cried frustratingly, "I could be a right git!"

"Who says you aren't a right git now?" Sirius asked.

James sighed, "Evans and I are nowhere close to being right for one another. Perhaps in years past, I saw her, as Wormtail so kindly put it, unwillingness to date me, as a challenge. Now that I am older, however, I no longer feel the need to fulfill such challenges."

"JAMES," his mother's voice called down the stairs to him, "Your father's in the fire!"

As James hurriedly sprinted up the stairs, Sirius turned to Remus, "I give him until the end of next week to admit he fancies her."

"He does?" Peter asked stupidly.

"Of course he does," Remus said frowning, "But I'd say five galleons it won't be until school starts that he admits it."

"You're on," Sirius said with a grin.

* * *

"Dad!" James said excitedly as he plopped down by the fire, "How are you?"

William Potter laughed, "I'm doing just fine, son. How was the end of the school year?"

James shrugged, "As good as school can get, I suppose. Things were pretty hectic with NEWTS coming up this year and all of the attacks of course."

"Ahh, yes," William frowned, "We are trying everything we can to stop them, son. The thing is that every trail we have followed has turned out to be a fake."

"But you caught another death eater last May," James said reassuringly, "Surely if we stop his supporters, you-know-who will start to lose power. If we can get him working single-handedly, it would be loads easier to catch him."

William smiled grimly at his son, "It's that way of thinking that makes me think you are going to make one hell of an auror, James." James blushed slightly and gave his father a weak smile. "But enough of this, I deal with it all day at work," His father continued, "How long are the boys here for the summer?"

"Just another week," James replied glumly, "After we move Sirius to his flat, Remus and Peter are going home."

William sighed, "I know that it isn't going to be much fun to be alone this summer, but I need you there to watch after your mother."

"I know," James said quickly, "It will just be strange not to have Sirius to run around with everyday. I really think he would be better off staying here for the summer at least, you know? That way he could save some money and be safe."

"I think Sirius feels that he has been under our generosity long enough. It will be good for him to have his own place and I'm sure you will visit him quite regularly."

James knew his father was right. He had been devastated when Sirius told him that he had inherited enough money to get his own flat and had been thinking of ways to make him stay since then. James understood Sirius' need to get out on his own, to prove to his family that he wasn't simply just hiding out at his best blood traitor friend's house, but he couldn't help the fact that he was going to miss his best mate like crazy.

"Certainly you boys won't want to miss the World Cup?" William asked, trying to lighten James' mood, "I've already bought seven tickets for us. I thought Remus' girlfriend might want to join us so I got an extra."

"Great!" James said excitedly, "You're going to come too, right?"

William smiled, "Wouldn't miss it for the world, son. Now then, I'd better get back to work. You take care of your mother while I'm gone, alright?"

"Of course," James said, his voice thick with emotion, "When will you be home?"

"I don't know, James, I don't know," He replied, "As soon as I can."

James wished that he could hide his emotions better as his throat seemed to constrict, "I miss you dad."

"I miss you too," William said and before leaving the fire with a pop, he added, "Love you."

James stared hard at the already empty fireplace, "I love you too, Dad."

"He's gone then?" Emily asked as she entered the room. James only nodded glumly. She enveloped her son in a tight hug and whispered, "I know, honey, I miss him too."

* * *

"What does his dad do?" Lily asked Sirius a few hours later. James had gone up to his room after talking with his father and had not emerged since. Sirius, who seemed unsurprised by this, had taken to showing Lily around the house.

"He's the head auror," Sirius replied, surprised that Evans didn't know.

Lily stared at him briefly, "As in the head—I mean, the top one?"

"Er—yeah," Sirius shrugged, "Has been ever since I've known James. Anyway, down that hallway is our weight room which you are more than welcome to use anytime."

"So that's why James thinks he's all that I suppose."

Sirius frowned, "Because he has a weight room in his house?"

Lily couldn't help but laugh, "No, because his father is one of the most important men at the ministry! No wonder he doesn't have to try in school or make a good impression… He's just going to slip right into his father's job isn't he? He already has all the connections he needs to become an auror—"

"James doesn't want to be an auror," Sirius interrupted.

"He—He what?" Lily was confused, "But…but he's taking all the classes for it. He's going into auror training after he leaves Hogwarts!"

Sirius shrugged, "In case you haven't noticed, Evans, the wizarding world is in a state of war. James feels a need to protect the people and world he loves. What better way than to be a dark wizard catcher, eh?"

"That's…amazing," Lily said, her voice incredulous, "I never knew… I mean, I always thought he wanted to be an auror. I thought he would enjoy the glory and attention."

"There is hardly any glory in being an auror nowadays," Sirius' tone was harsh, "Mr. Potter is the bravest man I've ever met besides James himself. He watches his people die day after day fighting Voldemort," Lily jumped at the name, "And still, he never gives up trying for the rest of the wizarding world."

Lily hardly knew what to say. She had never known James' dad was so important, and, as Sirius put it, so brave. She had never known his mother was so kind, yet playful, just like James. Come to think of it, she had never known a single thing about James Potter's family at all.

"Lots of the ministry think James will be a great addition to the auror force," Sirius said and Lily did not miss the bitterness in his tone, "They have been talking about him since his fourth year at Hogwarts…how brilliant he was, how he was going to be even better than his father. The minister told him in fifth year that he wouldn't be surprised if James was going to be the one to track down and end Voldemort."

Lily gasped, "But—But he hadn't even made the choice to become an auror yet! How could they pressure him into such a thing?"

"That's just it, Evans," Sirius gave a barking laugh, "They pressured James into something he never wanted; he still doesn't want. He's their pawn that they can maneuver to fulfill the ministry's every need. They are using him."

"Why did he do it? If he doesn't want to, then why—"

Sirius suddenly glared with such anger at Lily that she stopped midsentence. With obvious effort, he said in a calm voice, "Haven't you been listening to a think I told you, Evans? No, James does not WANT to be an auror. But like I said, James is the bravest person I know. He would risk his life a million times over to keep someone else safe. That's the kind of person he is!"

"I never knew any of this," Lily admitted sheepishly.

"Of course you didn't!" Sirius exclaimed, "There are very few people who actually know James; who understand him. Most everyone, you included, only see a boy who is arrogant and undisciplined, but James isn't really like that at all! In fact, he's incredibly selfless! The measures he goes to for his friends and family is ridiculous; he hardly ever puts himself first!" The pride and love Sirius had for his best friend showed thickly in his voice, "James pulls pranks and jokes because the laughter eases his pain, not because he is irresponsible. Not because he wants to show off or bring down other people. It is disgusting to see how such an amazing young man can be so misunderstood. I would be a wreck without someone like James Potter to look up to."

Lily was quite taken aback. She had never heard Sirius speak so fondly of anyone or anything. She knew that her own best friends would never speak so highly of her. Lily found herself quite speechless.

"Sorry," Sirius said gruffly, but he smiled kindly, "I'm very defensive of James."

"It's alright," Lily assured him, "So—erm—what does James want to do with the rest of his life?"

Sirius gave a small chuckle, "That my dearest Evans, you are going to have to ask him yourself!"

* * *

After her tour with Sirius, Lily strolled out to the backyard where James was wrestling with the children. She stopped beside a tree and stood watching for a few minutes. Sirius' outburst earlier was still playing through her head. Was Sirius simply bias towards his best friend, or was James truly that incredible of a guy?

"Evans!" James beckoned to her, "Come join the fun!" Lily couldn't help but smile as she watched him pick of two of the kids and spin around. Rosie came running to Lily, and grabbed her hand, dragging her to their group.

"Alright guys, why don't you play by yourselves for a minute while I talk to Lily?" Lily thought it sounded strange to hear her first name from James' lips. "So," He turned to her while the kids went running across the grass, "How are you? Enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah, I am," Lily replied kindly.

"Sirius didn't take it overboard with the tour, did he?" James asked, "I know he can get a bit carried away sometimes."

"No, not at all, it was quite interesting," Lily said truthfully, "And he said he would spare me from touring the endless amount of guest rooms, so it didn't take too long."

James' eyes flickered oddly, but then he gave a hearty grin, "Well that's comforting! But I am sorry that I couldn't show you around myself, you know. I just needed some time to myself, I hope you understand…"

"Oh yes," Lily found it very thoughtful, but unnecessary to apologize, "Sirius said you don't have the chance to see your father often…"

James shrugged, "Perhaps two or three times a summer. He's worked non-stop since…well since Voldemort has really gotten into power." Lily had the odd feeling that James had meant to say something else, but changed his mind at the last minute.

"That's pretty rough," She patted his shoulder awkwardly, "I had no idea that your dad was an auror, especially such an important one!"

"Yeah," James sounded less than thrilled, "Don't get me wrong-- I love my dad more than anything in the world and I'm very proud to be his son, but…sometimes I just wish his job wasn't quite so time demanding. That's incredibly selfish, I know…"

"No it isn't, James! There's nothing wrong with wanting to see your father more!"

James smiled at her appreciatively, "Thanks Evans…coming from you, that has to be a compliment!"

"Sure thing," Lily laughed, "Sirius said that you didn't want to be an auror?"

James sighed, "Leave it to the dog to have a loud mouth."

"So you really don't want to then?"

"Well, I think the job is very noble and necessary, of course," James smiled shyly, "But…wait, you can't tell anyone this…" Lily pretended to lock her lips and toss away the key. James laughed nervously, "You see, the thing is that all I want more than anything in the world…is a family."

* * *

A/N: OK…sorry that took so long!! We went on vacation!! It was pretty fun…. Don't be too jealous! Hehe…ok so I was trying to go for a bit more character development with James especially because I think he is poorly represented for the most part! Please tell me what you think! Thank you to all those who reviewed last chapter! Muwah!


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